Field
This disclosure generally relates to indirect monitoring of a user's credit data, and more particularly to methods and systems for indirect monitoring and reporting of changes to a user's credit data.
Description of the Related Art
Conventional credit monitoring services, such as those provided by current credit reporting bureaus, require the user to enroll into the credit monitoring service prior to the user being able to, for example, access their credit report from the credit monitoring service, or receive detailed alerts of changes to the user's credit data from the credit monitoring service that explain in detail what has changed. The enrollment process typically includes an extensive questionnaire that requires the user to provide enrollment information, including, for example, user identity information data, user credit data, user customized settings data, and identity verification data.
The identity verification data is provided to ensure that an unwanted third party is not able to gain access to the details of the user's credit information. In order for the enrollment process to be complete, so that users can view the details of their credit data (such as credit data included in a credit report provided to the consumer) or receive notification alerts of changes to their credit data from the credit monitoring service, users must provide sufficient identity verification data to the credit monitoring service. In some systems, if a user has not entered sufficient identification verification data, the credit monitoring service may determine that the user has not finished enrollment process and the credit monitoring service will not monitor the user's credit data or send notification alerts to the user.
However, in many instances the user does not provide sufficient identity verification data. This may occur even though the user has already paid for the service. The user may not provide the identity verification data because of time constraints, because the user does not have all necessary information on hand, or simply because the user forgets to provide the identity verification data.
This can result in the user thinking he has completed the registration process and is now enrolled within the credit monitoring service, even though the user has not finished the enrollment process. Or the user may be under the assumption that the identity verification data can be entered once the user is sent a notification alert by the credit monitoring service. However, this may not be the case, as conventional credit monitoring services do not monitor credit reports or send notification alerts to users that have not entered sufficient identity verification data.
Thus, the user is lulled into a false sense of security, because the user has likely paid for the service and expects the credit monitoring service to be monitoring the user's credit report and sending notification alerts to the user, despite not having entered sufficient identity verification data.